President Kovind appointed Professor Ganeshi Lal as the Governor of Odisha and Kummanam Rajasekharan to be the Governor of Mizoram.
The Union cabinet on Wednesday accepted the recommendations of the high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind on simultaneous elections.
Ram Nath Kovind is the first Bharatiya Janata Party leader and second Dalit in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday attended the Victory Day Parade as the 'Guest of Honour' in Dhaka as Bangladesh marked 50 years of victory in the Liberation War against Pakistan by showcasing its military might which included spectacular aerobatics and display of defence acquisitions.
At least eight MLAs of the opposition Congress in BJP-ruled Gujarat appeared to have voted for Kovind.
President Ram Nath Kovind will arrive in Dhaka on Wednesday on a maiden three-day State visit during which he will hold talks with his counterpart and attend the golden jubilee celebrations of Bangladesh's 1971 independence from Pakistan.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday addressed the nation on the eve of Republic Day. Watch his full speech HERE
According to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique, President Kovind, along with the First Lady and other members of the family, joined the fellow citizens and expressed their gratitude towards all those who are safeguarding the health of the nation in spite of grave risk to them and their families. President Kovind also donated one-month salary to PM-CARES fund and has decided to forego 30 per cent of his salary for a year, it said in a series of slides mentioning various initiatives and work done during the third year of his presidency.
The refurbished Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera is now renamed Narendra Modi Stadium.
A high-level committee on Thursday recommended simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and state assemblies as the first step followed by synchronised local body polls within 100 days.
Addressing the fourth APJ Abdul Kalam Memorial Lecture at the Rashtrapati Bhavan auditorium in New Delhi, Kovind said that "every Indian is proud of that great son of the country."
He said terrorists crossed the border and killed 26 Indians after checking their religion in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, which drew a fitting response from the country, referring to Operation Sindoor.
Modi noted that his interaction with Kovind, a long time BJP member before being appointed first as Bihar governor and then President, goes beyond his presidency.
"It is a very proud moment for us. The country is celebrating," Kovind's daughter Swati said.
The retired president is also entitled to a secretarial staff consisting of a private secretary, an additional private secretary, one personal assistant, two peons, and office expenses up to Rs 1 lakh per annum.
The government must develop a legally tenable mechanism in order to restore the cycle of simultaneous elections.
The former Bihar governor will be accompanied by senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union minister Nitin Gadkari in the UP leg of the tour.
"Frequent elections not only impose a huge burden on human resources but also impede the development process due to the promulgation of the model code of conduct. Therefore, a sustained debate is required on the subject of simultaneous elections and all political parties need to arrive at a consensus on this issue," he had said.
Kumar's support to the NDA candidate will be a major setback for opposition parties.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, vice president Rahul Gandhi, Left parties and CMs of various states congratulated Kovind.
Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan was sworn in as the 15th Vice President of India, succeeding Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Major Syed Moiz Abbas Shah, 37, was killed on Tuesday in a clash with the Taliban militants in the Sararogha area of South Waziristan near the Afghan border, according to a statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the army.
The move comes a day after the government called a special session of Parliament between September 18 and 22, the agenda for which is under wraps.
The government has listed two bills related to 'one nation, one election' for introduction in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister late Kalyan Singh, often termed as a Hindutva icon, and actor Victor Banerjee were among the 65 distinguished personalities who were conferred with Padma awards by President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday.
"He is also from RSS ranks. He was president of Dalit BJP Morcha... Sangh Pariwar organisation. Definitely, we will put up a candidate. Anybody from RSS... we will fight," CPI General Secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy said.
President Ram Nath Kovind and his wife Savita Devi on Friday boarded a special train from Safdarjung railway station in New Delhi for his native place in Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
The ruling faction's announcement came two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi rang up Palaniswami to seek his party's support.
Kovind said the UP legislature has a glorious history of dignified amicability between the ruling party and the Opposition.
Modi said this government will offer all 'sahyog' to Kovind.
Most BJP-led NDA CMs will also be present when Kovind files his papers.
A senior Congress leader said the Opposition's presidential pick Meira Kumar might also pay a visit to Lucknow to seek votes from the electoral college as the party "will not leave any stone unturned" for the election.
The president made a special mention of the threat to the environment and asked all citizens to take care of it for future generations.
After assuming office, President Murmu inspected a tri-services guard of honour at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also met the freedom fighters and greeted them on this occasion. Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla were among the dignitaries present there.
On Sunday, under the shadow of Covid-19, several leaders and politicians, including President Ram Nath Kovind, chief ministers of various states, and several Union ministers, among others, performed yoga at their residence, along with their families. For the first time since June 21, 2015, Yoga Day is being celebrated digitally. This year's theme is 'Yoga at Home and Yoga with Family'. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on the occasion of Yoga Day and said that due to the coronavirus pandemic, the world is feeling the need for yoga more than ever.
Taking to Twitter, AAP's Sanjay Singh shared a video of leaders greeting President Kovind at the farewell ceremony in the Central Hall of Parliament.
The 81-year-old ex-president returned from Thailand a month after his "secret departure" sparked protests in Bangladesh for being allowed to leave despite being accused of murder.
The 71-year-old filed his nomination in front of NDA ministers and CMs.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday said that indiscreet remarks, even if made with good intention, give space for dubious interpretations to run down the judiciary and asked judges to exercise utmost discretion in their utterances in courtrooms.
